"Goose neck" game: it's time for Arfeuilles to give up cruelty
Already denounced by One Voice in 2023, the village of Arfeuilles, in the Allier region, continues to include the goose neck game in its summer festivities. In the name of the geese sacrificed and the children exposed to this barbarity, we call on the municipality to turn away from these sinister beheadings, following the example of the choices made in Saint-Bonnet-Près-Riom and most recently by the mayor of Lesmont.
A tradition that needs to evolve…
This is far from the first time that the goose neck game organized in Arfeuilles has scandalized citizens and animal defenders. Already in 2014, a petition describing the practice as “a disgrace” to the village had garnered over 42,000 signatures.
Affected by the health crisis, the event did not take place from 2020 to 2022. There was hope: three years is enough time to reflect, to ask oneself whether beheading geese, perched on a galloping horse, is really the best way to cheer up a village. The events committee could have taken advantage of this opportunity to innovate and reinvent its famous patron saint’s festival… but it preferred not to change a thing. Worse still, the protests clearly taught them nothing. When it comes to animal welfare and public opinion, they simply don’t think.
…to protect animals and children
In 2023, we denounced the revival of this bloody piñata, attended by children. Barely taller than the fences on which the adults were leaning, how did they feel at the sight of these dead geese hanging by their legs, their throats violently slit? What message are they getting, except that animals deserve no respect, and that the worst mutilations are something to be applauded?
This nonsense has to stop. Once again this year, a whistle-blower has warned us that the goose-neck game will be held in Arfeuilles on August 15, under the guise of “equestrian shows”. We expect the municipality to finally put an end to this tradition, which it would benefit from replacing with a non-violent activity, as Saint-Bonnet-près-Riom and Lesmont have done.
For the geese, rabbits, chickens and ducks targeted every year, sign our petition to demand a nationwide ban on this practice.
Illustration photo from our images at Saint-Bonnet-Près-Riom in 2023